If you have played or coached basketball for any period of time, you have undoubtedly been in situations where your team has gone on scoring droughts. If you coached, your kids will come back to the huddle during breaks and say things like "Coach, what we are doing is not working. Try something different!!" It happens when you have competitive kids. That is why I laugh when I hear that fans expect lockerrooms to be always unified and no issues of any dissension, from time to time.. IF guys or gals are competitive at all, stuff is going to get said between players when there are struggles on the floor.. I guarantee you that teams like the perennially tough Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina or in the pros, the Michael Jordan Bulls, Larry Bird Celtics, the Bad Boy Pistons, Magic Johnson Lakers, that there were some edgy times in the lockerroom.. AT EACH OTHER!!! You just don't hear about it that much.. That does not mean players don't love one another.. Just that they may have definite individual ideas of how to solve problems when they come up. I can tell you from knowing people at Michigan State, that Izzo's national championship team in 2000, that there were PLENTY OF GAMES where guys would have each other by the collar on the uniform, IN THE LOCKERROOM, inches between each other's faces and seemingly ready for a fight, yelling at each other to make something happen. Yet that team was VERY CLOSE to each other.
Minnesota has had some real struggles scoring, at times. That is frustrating because I believe with the modern player, that scoring energizes other areas on the floor(defense, rebounding, defense and offense movement off the ball). It is tough to keep playing good defense and then have nothing come to fruition on the offensive end of the floor. I am sure there has been some slamming of lockers and some frustrating outpours from time to time.. But then, at the end of the day, the team has to come together to solve the problem.
When Marcus Carr starts to attempt to take over a game, I usually have mixed feelings about it.. When he succeeds, it is fun to watch him but the issue then becomes that at least 3 of the other 4 teammates on the court just seem to become spectators and the offense does not have a flow.. Sometimes, when nothing else is working, it seems like the best option to let Marcus do his thing.. The problem is that against good defensive teams, that is not going to work... Marcus still struggles with the balance of being the point guard and when(AND HOW) to assert himself as a scorer, offensively. Sometimes I know he is thinking to distribute but that does not mean he should disappear in the scoring column..
Against Ohio State, the specific instruction was to let Liam work down low. Even if you don't know the game that well, it was pretty obvious that the game plan should be just that. It all clicked and the guys fed off of each other. Against Michigan, you could tell that Marcus Carr felt that time at the end of the first half was important for him to take over to keep us in the game, at that point. But to win those games, the offense has to click as a team and the 2nd half got out of hand, so we ended up not trusting one another and things got ugly.
I am of the opinion that you have to trust the process of the offense.. If you want to know the secret of Wisconsin basketball, that is something that they work on a lot.. Trusting what they do, regardless how good the opponent. They recruit that type of player and even though that may not be the top 50 player in the country, they put together a great mix of confident guys that trust the process.. Plus they are usually underrated in talent. To me, we have to get there in trusting one another.
I still feel that we need to recruit guys that may have more confidence and demonstrated ability in that area of shooting. Maybe a little less athletic but more efficient in scoring and leadership. Gabe Kalscheur looked to be that type of player but honestly, we need about 4-5 of those type of guys. Gabe's shooting is coming around a bit but we need to run sets where guys get untracked.. To me, I am hoping we have had the 'long talk' with Both Gach as to what his role is on this team offensively. It is important that he has the confidence of the staff and the direction by the coaches as to what to do on the floor.
All this has to be mixed with making good decisions. When the Big Ten channel announcers talked about the 'steal that was scouted', what they were talking about is when we make the pass from the far wing to the top of the key. That pass is easy to steal if the receiver of the pass does not come to ball or the pass is lazy.. That HAS TO BE a crisp pass because if it isn't, the momentum of the player stealing the ball is moving towards their scoring end of the floor and usually ends up with an easy score for the opponent. SO effort has to be involved for good ball movement.
Then, there has to be a determination of who gets the "green light" to shoot the deep ball when open.. Certain guys should not be taking shots that are 3 balls, early in the shot clock.. Especially when we are struggling.. A good option always is to get the ball down low first to work the ball from the inside out. It gets the defense moving a bit and a kickout with some ball reversal can get a good shot.
This is a combination of "X's and O's" with recruiting the right "Jimmies and Joes" to make it work but Minnesota has to trust each other on offense and work on recruiting players that are not only athletic but can put the ball in the hoop when we are struggling.. THE IRONY IS THAT WE ARE A PRETTY GOOD SCORING TEAM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS!! But it is just in those times of scoring droughts, on the road specifically, where we need those shooters and to stay confident in what we are trying to do on the floor.
Minnesota has had some real struggles scoring, at times. That is frustrating because I believe with the modern player, that scoring energizes other areas on the floor(defense, rebounding, defense and offense movement off the ball). It is tough to keep playing good defense and then have nothing come to fruition on the offensive end of the floor. I am sure there has been some slamming of lockers and some frustrating outpours from time to time.. But then, at the end of the day, the team has to come together to solve the problem.
When Marcus Carr starts to attempt to take over a game, I usually have mixed feelings about it.. When he succeeds, it is fun to watch him but the issue then becomes that at least 3 of the other 4 teammates on the court just seem to become spectators and the offense does not have a flow.. Sometimes, when nothing else is working, it seems like the best option to let Marcus do his thing.. The problem is that against good defensive teams, that is not going to work... Marcus still struggles with the balance of being the point guard and when(AND HOW) to assert himself as a scorer, offensively. Sometimes I know he is thinking to distribute but that does not mean he should disappear in the scoring column..
Against Ohio State, the specific instruction was to let Liam work down low. Even if you don't know the game that well, it was pretty obvious that the game plan should be just that. It all clicked and the guys fed off of each other. Against Michigan, you could tell that Marcus Carr felt that time at the end of the first half was important for him to take over to keep us in the game, at that point. But to win those games, the offense has to click as a team and the 2nd half got out of hand, so we ended up not trusting one another and things got ugly.
I am of the opinion that you have to trust the process of the offense.. If you want to know the secret of Wisconsin basketball, that is something that they work on a lot.. Trusting what they do, regardless how good the opponent. They recruit that type of player and even though that may not be the top 50 player in the country, they put together a great mix of confident guys that trust the process.. Plus they are usually underrated in talent. To me, we have to get there in trusting one another.
I still feel that we need to recruit guys that may have more confidence and demonstrated ability in that area of shooting. Maybe a little less athletic but more efficient in scoring and leadership. Gabe Kalscheur looked to be that type of player but honestly, we need about 4-5 of those type of guys. Gabe's shooting is coming around a bit but we need to run sets where guys get untracked.. To me, I am hoping we have had the 'long talk' with Both Gach as to what his role is on this team offensively. It is important that he has the confidence of the staff and the direction by the coaches as to what to do on the floor.
All this has to be mixed with making good decisions. When the Big Ten channel announcers talked about the 'steal that was scouted', what they were talking about is when we make the pass from the far wing to the top of the key. That pass is easy to steal if the receiver of the pass does not come to ball or the pass is lazy.. That HAS TO BE a crisp pass because if it isn't, the momentum of the player stealing the ball is moving towards their scoring end of the floor and usually ends up with an easy score for the opponent. SO effort has to be involved for good ball movement.
Then, there has to be a determination of who gets the "green light" to shoot the deep ball when open.. Certain guys should not be taking shots that are 3 balls, early in the shot clock.. Especially when we are struggling.. A good option always is to get the ball down low first to work the ball from the inside out. It gets the defense moving a bit and a kickout with some ball reversal can get a good shot.
This is a combination of "X's and O's" with recruiting the right "Jimmies and Joes" to make it work but Minnesota has to trust each other on offense and work on recruiting players that are not only athletic but can put the ball in the hoop when we are struggling.. THE IRONY IS THAT WE ARE A PRETTY GOOD SCORING TEAM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS!! But it is just in those times of scoring droughts, on the road specifically, where we need those shooters and to stay confident in what we are trying to do on the floor.
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